Hyderabad: The state government is spending a large amount of money on printing the cheques for the distribution of Rs 4,000 per acre agricultural sop to 60 lakh farmers in the state in April and May.
Banks are charging Rs 110 to print each cheque. whi-ch amounts to Rs 66 crores for printing 60 lakh cheques. The second instalment of Rs 4,000 per acre will be distributed in October for which another Rs 66 crore is required for printing.
According to an official, the banks have sought Rs 110 per cheque towards printing charges because they have to print the name of Telangana government, the name of “Rythu Bandhu” scheme, name of farmer, his/her unique ID number, amount, name of village and digital signature of agriculture commissioner in a separate column.
The banks told the government that printing of all these details would be expensive and the government has to pay Rs 110 to print each cheque.
The government has placed orders with Andhra Bank to cover 756 villages, SBI 1,439 villages, Canara Bank 162, Corporation Bank 143, IOB 151, Syndicate Bank 235, Telangana Grameena Bank 230 and AP Grameena Vikas Bank 186.
The government has placed an order with eight banks for printing of cheques on a war-footing by April 19 — the date when Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao would launch the distribution of cheques.
Ministers, MPs, MLAs, MLCs will distribute the cheques in their respective districts and constituencies from April 20 to May 31 in a phased manner. In the first phase, the cheques will be distributed to around 20.93 lakh farmers.
“Order cheques” are being printed so that the farmers are not required to deposit the cheque in their account and can encash them in any of the banks.
Explaining the rationale for opting for order cheques, an official said the move is to ensure that the banks do not recover previous loan arrears, if any, of farmers when they deposit the cheques in existing accounts. If a farmer owes loan arrears in Andhra Bank, he can encash the cheque in SBI or any other PSB.
